Vintage Tiffany & Co. Atlas Sapphires Numerical Band Ring

Forced to carry the weight of the heavens for eternity as a punishment from Zeus, the Greek god Atlas supporting a celestial sphere on his shoulders is among Greek mythology’s best known iconography. For some, the Tiffany & Co. collection named after him is equally recognizable.

The Tiffany Atlas ring — part of the 1995 series that referenced the Atlas watch, which was created by Tiffany design director emeritus John Loring (b. 1939) in the 1980s — is revered for its minimal but sophisticated design. Like the rest of the Atlas pieces, it features an array of Roman numerals that prominently dot the band. Its distinctive depiction of time, by way of the collection’s unmistakable cutouts, helps render it an alluring piece of jewelry.

In 1853, Tiffany & Co. cofounder Charles Lewis Tiffany commissioned the carving of a nine-foot-tall Atlas figure that he had positioned above the entrance of his flagship store in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. (It’s currently on Fifth Avenue.) In its arms, instead of a hulking celestial sphere, the sinewy bronze-coated sculpture holds a clock. A local newspaper at the time suggested that New York City residents were setting their watches to it. The Roman numerals that distinguish the Atlas ring — and other Atlas pieces — have origins in those that adorn the clockface that towers over the Tiffany storefront today. 

The Atlas ring is modern and elegant. On its own, it’s a compact tribute to the luxury retailer’s long history. Today, it is available in a narrow, pierced or open band in 18-karat yellow, rose or white gold and sterling silver with round brilliant diamonds.

Tiffany & Co. is one of the most prominent purveyors of luxury goods in the United States, and has long been an important arbiter of style in the design of diamond engagement rings. A young Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed to his future wife, Eleanor, with a Tiffany ring in 1904. Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Astors and members of the Russian imperial family all wore Tiffany & Co. jewels. And Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis preferred Tiffany china for state dinners at the White House.

Although synonymous with luxury today, the firm started out rather modestly. Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young founded it in Connecticut as a “stationery and fancy goods emporium” in 1837, at a time when European imports still dominated the nascent American luxury market. In 1853, Charles Tiffany — who in 1845 had launched the company’s famed catalog, the Blue Book, and with it, the firm’s signature robin’s-egg blue, which he chose for the cover — shifted the focus to fine jewelry. In 1868, Tiffany & Co. gained international recognition when it became the first U.S. firm to win an award for excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. From then on, it belonged to the pantheon of American luxury brands.

At the start of the Gilded Age, in 1870, Tiffany & Co. opened its flagship store, described as a "palace of jewels" by the New York Times, at 15 Union Square West in Manhattan. Throughout this period, its designs for silver tableware, ceremonial silver, flatware and jewelry were highly sought-after indicators of status and taste. They also won the firm numerous accolades, including the grand prize for silverware at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Among the firm’s glittering creations from this time are masterworks of Art Nouveau jewelry, such as this delicate aquamarine necklace and this lavish plique-à-jour peridot and gold necklace, both circa 1900.

When Charles Lewis Tiffany died, in 1902, his son Louis Comfort Tiffany became the firm’s design director. Under his leadership, the Tiffany silver studio was a de facto design school for apprentice silversmiths, who worked alongside head artisan Edward C. Moore. The firm produced distinctive objects inspired by Japanese art and design, North American plants and flowers, and Native American patterns and crafts, adding aesthetic diversity to Tiffany & Co.’s distinguished repertoire.

Tiffany is also closely associated with diamonds, even lending its name to one particularly rare and exceptional yellow stone. The firm bought the Tiffany diamond in its raw state from the Kimberley mines of South Africa in 1878. Cut to create a 128.54-carat gem with an unprecedented 82 facets, it is one of the most spectacular examples of a yellow diamond in the world. In a broader sense, Tiffany & Co. helped put diamonds on the map in 1886 by introducing the American marketplace to the solitaire diamond design, which is still among the most popular engagement-ring styles. The trademark Tiffany® Setting raises the stone above the band on six prongs, allowing its facets to catch the light. A lovely recent example is this circa-2000 platinum engagement ring. Displaying a different design and aesthetic (but equally chic) is this exquisite diamond and ruby ring from the 1930s.